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Description

This fine example of an ante-bellum church was the site of The South Carolina Secession Convention on December 17, 1860.
-- Historic American Buildings Survey (HABS SC-251)

The First Baptist Church was the scene where the first southern state convention declared its separation from the United States of America. Delegates assembled here on December 17, 1860 and unanimously declared their intent that the State of South Carolina should secede from the Union. This act of separation, coming from a state of leading political prominence, carried an immediate momentum throughout the Gulf States and Georgia, inducing them to declare their own separation. Although the convention met for only one day at Columbia and signed the State’s Ordinance of Secession only after reassembling in Charleston, the intent of the State’s political leaders was clearly and publicly declared at First Baptist. Erected in 1859, the church building features a Roman Tuscan portico and Tuscan pilasters down the sides, all rendered in molded brick. Alterations to the building occurred in 1941 and 1949. Listed in the National Register January 25, 1971; Designated a National Historic Landmark November 7, 1973. - SCDAH

National Register information

Status

Posted to the National Register of Historic Places on January 25, 1971